Why can't we remember much, if anything, from early childhood and infancy?

Some of us have scant few memories of a few things or places when we were less than two or three years old.

But most people can’t remember anything that happened before they started school, and some don’t even remember anything before they were ten or twelve.

Why can’t we remember a lot from when we were babies?

Some will say because it was such a long time ago. Well, that is’t true, I am 54 years old and can quite easily remember my college years. I can tell you a lot about what I learned and experienced about my college years , even though it was over thirty years ago, But someone who is 31 cannot remember their lives thirty years ago.

You’d think that in those early years, we are noticing and absorbing everything around us, and learning a lot about the world, about language, learning our earliest habits—that we would remember a LOT of these experiences. If I can remember 30 years ago, why can’t we remember our infancy when we are in our thirties? Even a five-year-old can’t remember much about their infancy.

And, while we’re at it—what are some of YOUR earliest memories? Why can’t we remember more?